NYC planning commissioner praises Dallas

New York City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden attracted a long list of VIPs when she came last week to speak at the Nasher Sculpture Center. Arts patron Deedie Rose opened up the Pump House art space behind her home overlooking Turtle Creek and hosted a dinner for Burden attended by folks like centenarian philanthropist Margaret McDermott.

The next day, former first lady Laura Bush joined a luncheon group with Burden in the private art gallery at the home of Marguerite Hoffman.

Among those coming to hear Burden speak at the Nasher was Fort Worth-New York boldface name Anne Bass, who hosted a lunch for Burden in Fort Worth.

Aside from being the second most powerful figure in New York City governance — after her friend, Mayor Michael Bloomberg — Burden has one of the best pedigrees in a town full of them.

Her father, Stanley Mortimer, was a Standard Oil heir. Her mother, Babe Paley, was one of the city’s great social eminences. Her stepfather, Bill Paley, was the lord of CBS. Her stepmother, Kathleen Mortimer, was the daughter of railroad heir and diplomat Averell Harriman, and her first husband, Carter Burden, was a Vanderbilt descendant and former aide to Bobby Kennedy.

Design of our times

During her presentation, Burden talked a lot about “the power of great open spaces.” In New York, she’s overseen the construction of the High Line linear park, built on abandoned elevated railroad tracks, as well as the esplanade on the Lower East Side waterfront.

She says a lot of open space power will soon be unleashed at the doorstep of the Nasher. “I think you’re going to get a lot of that impact with your new Klyde Warren Park,” she said, referring to the deck park atop the Woodall Rodgers Freeway.

“People in New York are talking about Dallas. The reputation of Dallas is that the architecture is really fantastic and over the top.”

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About Alan Peppard

MOST UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE ON THE JOB: Reintroducing myself to President George W. Bush after not seeing him for several years and having him reply, "Alan, you don't ever have to tell me who you are."

SOMETHING PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME: I have gills and webbed fingers and toes. I can talk to fish. I'm AquaMan!

IF I HAD TWO SPARE HOURS, I WOULD: Take a walk with my daughters.

I'M ALWAYS ENTERTAINED BY: "The Simpsons," four-part harmony and e-mails from the widow of Nigeria's minister of petroleum.

Hometown: Dallas, TX

Education: Greenhill School/SMU (political science major). I wanted to go to law school, but law school didn't want me. So I became a writer, first for D magazine and then for The Dallas Morning News.